The Lost
by Halomaniac117
Summary: The Grimm. A tale passed down for many ages. The never ending tale of the war against the creatures of darkness and of the heroes who fight them. But even the greatest tales have a beginning. This story's beginning was simply lost...until now. Soon the truth will be uncovered and it all starts with a girl in a red hood. I don't own RWBY. Roosterteeth does. Please review and enjoy.
1. Prologue

_Legends. Stories of a long forgotten past. Stories of heroes and villains. Most see them for what they are. Tales that put children to sleep so they can dream. But, sometimes what many see as fake turns out to be real. This tale has been passed down from generation to generation, each time being added too. It is a tale that all know...yet don't understand, the story of the creatures of darkness. The creatures of Grimm. _

_All know the Grimm. Of how they seek to destroy humanity and return the world to darkness. Of how the first humans were born and used the powers of nature to turn the tides of the war. But most of all, they know of the warriors that dedicate their lives to protect the world from the forces of darkness. Of how they hunt down the Grimm and banish them from existence. But few know the truth. Most believe that these warriors have always existed, not caring where they came from. _

_But every story has a beginning, and this one is no different. It was simply...lost. Soon though, it will be found. For no legend is ever truly forgotten. And with this discovery a new story will be born...and it all starts with a girl in a red hood. _

* * *

The halls of Beacon Academy were quiet as a massive storm raged over the city of Vale. The students had retired to their dorms for the night and were all in a deep slumber. All except for the leader of team RWBY. The young Ruby Rose thrashed in her bed as she was plagued by nightmares. As she continued dreaming the storm outside began to turn more fierce. The sounds of thunder grew louder and the flash of lightning growing brighter. The rain pelted their window with great force and the wind started pulling up small pieces of earth. The storm was quickly becoming as violent as a hurricane.

"No...no...go away...leave...leave me alone!" Ruby mumbled as her nightmare continued.

* * *

Ruby ran through a strange forest, shrouded in darkness. That was all she could do right now run. She knew not what was chasing her but she could sense that they were Grimm. She wanted to get out of where ever she was. She wanted find her sister, her friends, she wanted to find someone. She was so focused on finding someone, that she failed to keep her balance. She fell to the ground her strength gone. She then heard something behind her. She turned only to see eight blood-red eyes. She couldn't move, she was paralyzed with fear. The strange Grimm slowly moved forward ready to claim it's meal. Ruby crawled back as the mysterious Grimm inched closer.

"No...no...go away...leave...leave me alone!" She cried, tears falling from her silver eyes. Ruby shut her eyes as she saw the creature lunge at her. She waited for the creature's strike, but none came. Instead, she heard what sounded like steel hitting flesh. Slowly she opened her eyes and saw a hooded figure in a dark red cloak standing over the creature's headless corpse. Her eyes fell on the figures weapon. The man before her wielded a majestic staff, on one end was a eight pointed circular blade with a glowing orb in the center. On the other end was a giant sickle the length of her arm, she saw the blood of the creature dripping from it. She looked at the man as he began to turn reviling a gold mask with deep claw marks across it. The next thing she knew, the man's eyes glowed white and she was enveloped in a flash of light.

* * *

"AAH!" Ruby screamed as she awoke from her nightmare. At the same moment, a deafening clash of thunder shook the school and awakening the rest of the students as well. Weiss fell from her bed and to the ground her blankets tangled around her body. Yang jolted up only to hit her head on the ceiling. Blake jumped up and was gripping the bottom of Yang's bed.

"What in the world?" Weiss asked as she got to her feet and turned on a lamp, the covers still wrapped around her.

"Man that was loud. Ow! Hey Weiss can you conjure me up an ice pack?" Yang said as she got down from her bunk her hands clutching her head.

"Yeah, sure hang on." She said not even bothered by the fact that Yang had unintentionally made a joke. "Blake? You okay?"

"I'm fine." The Faunus said as she let go of Yang's bed, embarrassed that she may have just given Yang a reason to make a cat joke. While Weiss gave Yang an ice pack, Blake looked outside and saw that the storm had calmed down and was now a light sprinkle.

'Strange.' She thought. She was returned to reality when Weiss came over.

"Blake. I'm gonna go see how Pyrrha and the others are. Why don't you check on Ruby. I'll be right back."

Blake nodded and stepped on Weiss's bed, and pulled away the blanket that covered Ruby's bed. Laying there was a shaking Ruby curled in a ball.

"Ruby? Hey, Ruby are you okay?" She asked. But she got no response, all she heard were the sounds of crying.

"Yang. Ruby doesn't look to good." Blake told her partner.

As soon as the blond heard that, she completely forgot about her headache and ran to her sister's side.

"Ruby!" The blonde said as she got on the bed. She placed a hand on her sister's shoulder and started to talk to her.

"Ruby? Ruby?! Come on baby sis, talk to me." Yang begged. Weiss had just returned from across the hall and went over to Blake.

"What's wrong? Is Ruby okay?" She asked.

"I don't know. I just found her curled up in a ball, shaking and crying." Blake explained. This got Weiss worried, Ruby didn't scare easily and she never heard of her partner crying before. Climbing on her bed she saw Yang desperately trying to get Ruby to say something.

"Come on Ruby. Say something." Yang said worried. Picking up her sister, Yang got her on her knees and facing her. She then placed her hand on her shoulders and gently shock her.

"Ruby?! Please say something!" Yang was relieved when Ruby lifted her head only to become scared when she saw the tears streaming from her eyes. Yang had never seen her sister this sacred before, not even when they were younger. They just looked at each other.

"Yang?" Ruby said in a weak voice. Yang had no time to reply as she was enveloped in a hug from her crying sister. Yang was now even more surprised. Ruby had never been the first person to start a comfort hug. Yang was always the one who did that. Yang wrapped her arms around her sister. Placing a hand on her head, Yang held Ruby's head in her shoulder as she cried, while rubbing her back with the other and softly singing her favorite song.

"Red like roses fills my dreams and brings me to the place you rest."


	2. Another Day

The students of Beacon were all gathered in the dining hall, eating breakfast and talking about the storm. Outside it continued to rain but absent of lightning and thunder. Team RWBY and JNPR sat at their normal table with their meals.

"That was quite the storm last night. I can't remember the last time we had one that fierce." Pyrrha said before yawning.

"I don't know why you're so tired. I slept great!" Nora said before shoveling pancakes into her mouth. Everyone just looked at her then at Ren. Ren noticed that they were staring at him waiting for an explanation.

"Sigh...I don't know how she was able to sleep through that. For some reason she sleeps better when it's incredibly loud and can't sleep at all when it's quiet." Ren explained.

"Wait is that why we heard Jeff Williams songs for the first few weeks?" Weiss asked. No one questioned her as everyone knew who Jeff Williams was. What they didn't know was that she was a huge Jeff Williams fan. Ren nodded glad that he had convinced Nora to use headphones now.

"Hey guys." The group turned to see Sun and his teammate Velvet walking over. Since Weiss and Blake had reconciled, Sun had been invited to join Beacon. Most of them were surprised that he was still given a chance to join after the incident with CRDL. Long story short, Team CRDL will be leaving Velvet alone from now on. Now he was an honorary member of Beacon and team leader of Team SAVR.

"Hey Sun. Hey Velvet." Blake said as the fellow Faunus joined them.

"G-Good morning, Blake." Velvet said in her shy voice. She still wasn't use to making this many friends in such a short time, most of whom were humans. But she was glad that CRDL was leaving her alone now. She looked at her teammate and blushed.

Everyone continued to talk and eat, not noticing the surprisingly quiet Ruby. Since last night, she hasn't been able to stop thinking of her nightmare. She kept seeing those strange Grimm chasing her through that dark forest, of how she almost died. But most of all she couldn't stop thinking about the hooded man who had saved her. She just stared at her bowl of cereal, lost in thought and oblivious to the rest of the world.

"Ruby? Ruby?! Ruby!"

"Huh?" Ruby turned her head to see everyone looking at her.

"You okay?" Yang asked.

Ruby quickly put on a smile. "Oh uh yeah! I'm okay, in fact I'm great! Never felt better!" She lied. Yang put a hand on her sister's shoulder.

"Ruby, don't lie to me. I know you're not okay. You haven't said anything since we woke up. So please, tell us what's wrong."

Ruby looked around the table to see everyone looking at her with concern. With a sigh, she decided to tell them.

"Last night...last night I had this dream. Well a nightmare more like. In it, I was running through a dark forest being chased by these strange creatures. I know that they were Grimm but they weren't like any I've seen before. They looked like giant spiders all around me getting closer and closer. The only thing that was on my mind was finding someone and getting out of where ever I was." Ruby paused as she felt a chill go down her spine. She hugged herself not wanting to say any more. She felt Yang's arm wrapping around her shoulders. She took some deep breaths and continued.

"I was so focused on that I tripped. I tried to get to my feet but I had no time. I turned to see eight red eyes looking at me, I crawled back as it got closer to me. The next thing I saw was it lunging at me. I closed my eyes and waited. But nothing happened." She said to everyone. "Instead I heard a sound and when I opened my eyes I saw the creature was dead and a man was standing over its body." Everyone was waiting for her to continue.

"What did this guy look like? Anybody you know?" Yang asked. Ruby shook her head.

"No, I've never seen this guy in my life. He wore a dark red cloak with a hood like mine. Only his went over his shoulders and covered his arms. All I saw was a dark red cape thingy and a hood. His weapon on the other hand was...well...I guess the best word would be gorgeous or majestic. It was a staff with a eight pointed blade around a glowing orb on one end and a huge sickle on the other almost like it could have been a sword on its own. Covering the sickle was what I guessed was the Grimm's blood."

She smiled a bit when she saw Jaune cringe from the details.

"So what did you do?" Yang asked.

"I just looked at him. I didn't know what else to do. I couldn't move. Then he turned and looked at me."

"You saw his face?" Weiss asked. Again Ruby shook her head.

"No. When he turned, I saw he wore a gold mask with only a pair of eye holes. Going across it were deep marks like it was scratched by an Ursa or something. The next thing I know, a flash of light came out of his eyes and then I woke up screaming."

Nobody said anything not even Nora. They were processing what they had heard trying to figure out what to say. After a while of awkward silence, Blake decided to say something.

"You said a flash of light appeared? Maybe it was a flash of lightning before that thunder shook the school?" She suggested.

"We didn't hear you scream so the thunder must have masked it." Weiss added.

"You guys are probably right...but I don't know."

"Hey. Don't worry about it little sis. It was just a dream. Just try to forget about it." Yang said with a smile.

"Yeah. Don't let some crazy dream get you down." Sun said.

Ruby looked at her friends and began to cheer up. "You guys are right. It was just a dream, nothing more nothing less. Let's just eat then head to class." She said before eat her cereal. She then stuck out her tongue.

"Belch, It's all soggy."

Everyone laughed and gave her some of their breakfast.


	3. First Mission

"Blah blah blah. Blah blah blah blah."

This was all the students heard when Professor Port was "teaching" his class. It wasn't because he was a bad teacher, it was because he was a boring teacher. While they do learn stuff in his class, he spent more time talking about his "adventures" than anything. Many students didn't even pay that much attention anyway. Blake was reading a book, Weiss was filing her nails, Yang was asleep, and Ruby was drawing.

Not many people knew that Ruby was a great artist, drawing being one of her pastimes. All day her thoughts kept returning to her dream. Drawing had always calmed her down so she thought drawing would help her relax. The paper in front of her had an elegant sketch of the Grimm from her dream. Most of it was guess work, but it defiantly looked like a spider. Bone like armor covered it's body, it's head had four pairs of eyes and a gruesome pair of mandibles, eight thin boney legs sprouting from its body with a huge armor plated abdomen behind it. She stared at the drawing another shiver going down her spine. She returned her attention to Professor Port when he started to finish up his story.

"...And so, because of my heroic act the pack of Beowolves that had harassed the poor villagers scattered back to the Emerald forest. Now are there any questions?" The mustached professor asked. It was then Ruby remembered that this class covered the various Grimm around the world. Raising her hand, she waited for Port to call on her.

"Ah, Miss Rose. Eager I see. You have a question?"

Blake and Weiss had stopped what they were doing and Yang woke up when they heard that Ruby had a question. No one ever asked Professor Port questions before.

"Well sir, I was just wondering. All your tales involve you fighting Beowolves or a Death Stalker. But have you ever faced a Grimm that we haven't covered?" She asked. The Professor looked at her.

"May I ask where this is coming from, Miss Rose?"

"Well, we have only ever covered the common Grimm. But those cant be the only ones. There have to be more out there than just these? Right?"

Professor Port laughed. "Ha ha. A good question Miss Rose. You are correct, there are other types of Grimm out there, but most of them were wiped out."

"Well, do any stick out from the rest?"

"A few, one particularly nasty one as I recall. I believe that I have an book somewhere. Just a moment." Port said as he searched his bookshelf.

As Port searched his bookshelf the rest of team RWBY whispered to one another.

"Ruby, why are you asking about other Grimm? Does this have something to do with your dream?" Yang asked.

"Yeah, I want to know if the Grimm from my dream were real and not something I made up." Ruby replied. Weiss sighed.

"Ruby, I thought we told you not to think about this anymore. It was a dream, and nothing else." Weiss said.

"Weiss is right, Ruby. You're focusing on this too much." Blake agreed.

"I don't know guys. Deep down something is telling me it wasn't a dream. That it was something...more."

"Ah here we are!" The girls returned their attention to Port who had just pulled out a very thick and old book. Port then proceeded to blow off the years of dust and immediately get covered in a cloud. As he coughed, the class snickered.

"Cough cough. My that's been on the shelf for a while." He said as he brushed himself off and look through the book.

"Ah there it is." He said as he put up a picture for everyone to see. Ruby's eyes widened. The Grimm looked just like her drawing.

"The Arachne were by far, one of the most dangerous types of Grimm there was. Not much is known about them unfortunately, but some records say that they were cannibalistic."

The class simultaneously gulped.

"C-Cannibalistic, Sir?" Jaune stuttered.

"Yes, they ate anything. Humans, Faunus, animals, other Grimm, even each other. Everything was prey to them. But that's mostly it I'm afraid." Port continued.

"Are there any left? Are they still around?" Weiss asked.

"Oh no no no! The last of the Arachne were wiped out centuries ago." Port said just as the bell tower rung indicating that the day was over.

"Well seems that that is all the time we have today. Remember to go over the reading, and have a good weekend."

As the students finished packing up, Team RWBY and JNPR met outside the classroom.

"That was an...interesting class." Jaune said.

"Indeed. Especially hearing about the Arachne even if there wasn't much to learn about them." Pyrrha added.

"Well we should be getting back to our dorms and get ready for dinner." Ruby said as they all started walking.

"Yeah, I am starving!" Yang announced as she stretched her arms.

"Well I am going to get these readings out of the way first. I don't feel like leaving them until the last minute." Weiss said.

"Wow Weiss. You're a real teacher's pet ain't ya?" Yang joked.

"Ha ha ha, Yang." Weiss said sarcastically. Everyone just laughed, before Ruby noticed someone walking towards them. The group stopped when they saw it was Professor Ozpin.

"Good afternoon, everyone." The headmaster said.

"Good afternoon, Professor Ozpin." RWBY and JNPR replied.

"Ruby, I was just on my way to speak with you."

"With me, sir? Why?"

"I would prefer to speak in private if you don't mind. This is a matter I must speak to the team leader about." Ozpin told her.

"Oh okay. Just a sec." She said before turning to everyone else.

"I'll see you guys back at the dorm."

"No prob, Ruby. See you in a bit." Yang said as the group continued walking.

Ruby turned back to Ozpin who was standing next to a classroom. Following him in, Ozpin shut the door and set his coffee down and pulled a file out of his coat. Setting it on a desk, he turned back to Ruby.

"I'll be brief, as I am sure you wish to join your friends." He said.

"This file here contains information regarding a mission I have decided to give to you and the rest of your team." He told her.

"A mission? Like a full on kick butt and take names kind of mission?! Or a super stealth mission?!" Ruby said full of excitement. Ozpin chuckled.

"No nothing like that I'm afraid. I have received reports of strange sounds and sighting of dark creatures along the outskirts of the city. I want team RWBY and JNPR to investigate and determine if these sightings are Grimm related." Ozpin said as he handed Ruby the file. Taking it, Ruby put it in her book quickly put it in her book bag and slung it over her arm.

"Don't worry Professor Ozpin. We'll get it done." Ruby said.

"Good. Now go and join your friends. Inform them of the mission and report to the landing pad first thing in the morning."

"Got it. See ya, Professor Ozpin!" Ruby said before zooming out the door giggling at the thought of her first official mission.

Ozpin grinned and took a sip of his coffee before noticing a piece of paper on the ground. Picking it up he saw that it was a drawing of a giant spider Grimm.

"Hmm..."


	4. Dazed and Confused

Today was the best day of Ruby's life, her first mission as a Huntress. Even if this was just a simple recon mission, it was still exciting. She had done everything she could possibly do to prepare. She had read over the mission file, she had informed her team and JNPR of the mission, she got all her equipment ready, and anything else Weiss reminded her to do. All that was left was to endure the constant boredom that comes from a three hour airship ride. Everyone was doing something to pass the time. Weiss was filing her nail again, Blake was reading, and Yang was listening to music. Nothing really note worthy was happening with team RWBY. JNPR on the other hand was a little more interesting. Jaune was busy trying to not throw up, Pyrrha was trying to help him, Nora was talking about something again, and Ren was checking his weapons. All in all, it was a normal day. Everyone's attention turned to the intercom as the pilot spoke.

"Attention all passengers, target destination is within sight. Ten minutes until landing."

"If there's one good thing I can say about Schnee company, its that they make good robots." Blake said looking a Weiss. Weiss looked back before rolling her eyes. Blake smirked as she put her book away.

Ruby was glad that this torment was finally over. Suddenly, the ship shot to the side causing everyone to fall over. Warning lights and sirens sounded as the robot pilot came back on.

"Warning, warning, unknown threat detected. All passengers are asked to secure their weapons and proceed to their seats."

Getting to their feet, everyone got back in their seats and buckled up as the ship shot to the side again. Again the robot voice came on.

"Attention all passengers, critical engine failure. Beginning evacuation sequence."

The next thing they knew, the seats were ejected from the ship and fell through the sky. Quickly activating their parachutes, the group watched as one of the airship wings ripped off before it crashed into the side of a mountain.

"What the hell was that?!" Weiss shouted.

"That's a good question!" Blake shouted back.

"There is no way that was a mechanical failure! Schnee company ships are state of the art, and wouldn't go down that easily!"

"Then someone or something was attacking the ship!" Yang added.

"Yeah, but what?! Only a Nevermore would be able to take a ship out while it was in the air!" Ruby yelled.

"Maybe it was the White Fang! They wouldn't waste an opportunity to take out Schnee company property!" Weiss yelled.

"That's unlikely, Weiss. As far as I know the White Fang has no presence this far out of the city!" Blake said slightly annoyed that Weiss would blame the White Fang first.

"Guys! Please don't get into another fight! This isn't the time!" Ruby said as JNPR drifted over.

"Look! We'll figure out what happened later! Right now we need to call for help! The ship radio is our only shot unless we want to walk back to Beacon!" Ruby said. Everyone nodded.

"Okay as soon as we land we..." Ruby was suddenly pulled back as something his her seat.

"RUBY!" Everyone yelled.

"AAH!" Ruby yelled as she was pulled towards the mountain. Turning to see what was behind her she saw it was some kind of white rope. Not wanting to end up a Ruby sandwich, she grabbed Crescent Rose and unhooked from her seat. Now falling, Ruby looked around for something to grab onto. Spotting a tree, she unfolded Crescent Rose and managed to hook the small tree. She only managed to slow down a bit before the tree snapped in half and she started to slide down the side of the mountain. Slamming Crescent Rose into the ground, Ruby desperately tried to stop, but to no avail as she dropped through a hole. Sliding down a tunnel, Ruby finally came to a stop as she slid onto a small patch of grass. Ruby pushed herself up and was about to look around when she heard something behind her. Turning, she looked at the tunnel she came through as Crescent Rose flew out.

"EEK!" Ruby squealed as she ducked in time as her weapon flew over her head before embedding itself in a tree.

"That was close."

Getting to her feet, Ruby walked over to Crescent Rose and pulled it out of the tree. Putting it away, she looked around but she couldn't see anything in the darkness around her. Deciding to get to higher ground, she made her way up the tree. Once she got to the top she stared in awe. Covering the ceiling were millions of gems that shinned like stars and casting a dim light over the massive forest below. In the center of the forest was a massive rock spire the size of which held up the whole mountain.

"Wow...what is this place?" Ruby said to herself. Shaking her head she climbed down.

"Okay, I should make my way to that spire. If the others are down here that's where they would go too." Ruby then started to make her way towards the spire, unaware that she was being followed.

* * *

Everyone had just landed on the mountain when Yang began shouting.

"Ruby! Ruby! Where are you?!"

"Yang, calm down." Blake said to her partner. Yang turned around her eyes burning red.

"Calm down! My sister is missing and you're telling me to calm down!" Yang yelled.

"Yang, I get that you're worried. But getting angry isn't going to help." Blake said, not raising her voice to argue. After a few moments, Yang's eyes when back to normal and she sighed.

"I know, its just...for all we know whatever took Ruby is still out there."

"Ruby is a big girl, Yang. If anyone can deal with whatever it was that took her, it's her." Weiss said trying to reassure her.

"I know, Weiss. But..."

"I don't want to hear it. We all know its true. Ruby is an exceptional fighter and is to stubborn to admit defeat." Weiss said. Yang looked at her friends nodded.

"You guys are right. Thanks and sorry for yelling at you."

"You don't need to apologize. Come on let's go see how JNPR is." Weiss said. The three girls went over to JNPR who had also recovered.

"Hey, you guys okay?" Yang asked.

Pyrrha turned and faced them. "We're fine. It was a surprisingly soft landing given our current position."

"That was awesome! See Ren, I told you there would be action." Nora said. Ren just sighed and dusted himself off.

"Okay look, we're stranded in the middle of nowhere and Ruby is missing. We need a plan." Weiss said.

"Our first step should be finding Ruby. After that we should make our way to the ship." Pyrrha said.

"Like Ruby said either we find the ship's radio or we're walking back to Beacon." Yang said.

"Only one problem. We have no idea where she is." Blake said.

"Hey Ren. Can't you sense other people's auras?" Nora asked.

"I can. But I can't determine where they are exactly."

"Well, that's better than nothing. Go for it." Weiss said.

Ren nodded and closed his eyes. He cleared his mind and tried to find Ruby's aura. He sensed everyone's aura before he felt something far away from them. Opening his eyes a confused look came across his face.

"That's strange."

"What is it? Did you find Ruby?!" Yang asked.

"I believe I have but...the aura I sensed is somewhere underground."


End file.
